Young Hawk by Rick Bartow

  • Title: Young Hawk
  • Artist: Rick Bartow
  • Medium: Monotype
  • Size: 36"h x 19"w
  • Added to collection: 2004
  • Donor: Purchased by Portland Community College, Rock Creek Campus
  • Campus: Rock Creek
  • Location: B3/1 North hallway

A monotype is a one-of-a-kind form of printmaking in which the artist paints or draws on a plate and the image is transferred to paper using an etching press. Animals are recurring subjects in Bartow’s artworks. The birds and salmon in his paintings and wood carvings pay tribute to the wildlife of the Oregon’s central coast, while coyotes, dogs, and bears — sometimes in partly human form — appear as fearsome beasts in the midst of metamorphosis. Abe Ahn in Hyperallergic writes: “Animals in Bartow’s world may be tricksters, companions, guardians, or adversaries. They always seem to be in the act of becoming, but it’s not clear whether the outcome is joy or terror, hurt or healing. The menace and humor of Bartow’s art suggests that they can be all those things at once.”